THE WHITER PITTSBURGH 431 



THE WHITEE PITTSBUEGH 



BY JOHN F. CARGILL 

 PITTSBURGH, PA. 



IT has very happily been said that the location of the city of Pitts- 

 burgh was decided in the Carboniferous age of our planet. 

 Equally true it is that, uncounted ages before the primal granite was 

 clothed in verdure which " the creeping centuries " drew from sur- 

 rounding air, some happening in far-away nebular space — some law of 

 gravitation or propulsion determined the soft coal deposits, and the 

 three branching rivers of later age. These things influenced and pre- 

 arranged the site of the Iron City. If the widest range were given 

 to imagination, perhaps it might be argued, too, that the all-enfolding 

 laws shaped even the course of modern industry — declaring what 

 manner of people should become the city's builders. But it is not the 

 purpose of this article to raise any question of law versus foreordina- 

 tion. 



The early settlers in the Pittsburgh district were largely composed 

 of Scotch-Irish; a stock rugged and honest, that has, individually and 

 collectively, assisted in the making of more world history within the 

 past three hundred years than any nationality has ever done within a 

 similar period. The unleavened Scotch-Irishman can hardly be de- 

 scribed as of fascinating or lovable personality ; but empires have never 

 been founded or perpetuated by qualities sweetly lovable. Strength and 

 determination are the essentials ; and " rugged and honest " is a fair 

 designation. Many another people might well covet one so good. 



He has usually been punctilious in his dealings, reliable and moral : 

 a considerate husband and father, religious, Calvinistic, opinionated, 

 self-sufficient, blunt and austere. He is little interested in literature, 

 or in science except in so far as it might contribute to his immediate 

 business interests. The Bible is, in the main, he thinks, sufficient for 

 literature and the conduct of life. (The reference is not so much to 

 the comparatively modified and composite man of to-day as to the 

 generation that is passing.) In character and temperament he is 

 radically different from the New Englanders who settled some of our 

 other bustling cities to the'north and west; but no man is in position 

 to say that, so far as material results are concerned, the Pittsburgher 

 has not availed himself to the utmost of his opportunities. 



Before the war of the rebellion, Pittsburgh was of comparatively 

 little consequence. There was a town here, which had called itself a 

 city for more than fifty years. Situated at the junction of three 

 rivers, the waterways furnished the means of traffic. But there was 



